In 1918, the whole East-Central European region had changed. Empires collapsed, new states appeared, boarders were redrawn and processes of the consolidation of nations were happening. The ideas of sovereignty and independence were embodied. Some of the nations were more successful (Lithuania, Latvia, Poland), some of them less (Belarusian Peoples’ Republic, Ukrainian Peoples’ Republic). These processes, however, had not finished discussions on sovereignty. They remained relevant through the whole 20th century and experienced a rebirth in the times of the collapse of Soviet block and Soviet Union (1990-1991), and were activated one more time after the expansion of European Union in 2004. In the context of new security and peace challenges in East-Central Europe (the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in 2014 and deterioration of Russian and USA/UE relations), questions of sovereignty, and especially of its limits and endurance, became urgent again.

This conference aims at systemizing ideas and practices of East-Central European sovereignties in the context of centenary anniversary of formation of national states as well as of present political and geopolitical challenges.

Main topics:

The year 1918: the idea of sovereignty and its meaning for the new states of East-Central Europe.

The idea of sovereignty, the political conflict with the center, the renewal of nation states and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990-1991.

National sovereignty in East-Central Europe: challenges of EU expansion after 2004.

State sovereignty in East-Central Europe: changing attitudes and challenges after 2014.

Working languages of the conference: Belarusian, Russian, English, Polish and Ukrainian.